Wednesday 10 March 2010 16.17 EST
First published on Wednesday 10 March 2010 16.17 EST

Who is this exciting breakthrough act promising to "focus on creativity" and deliver a "digital platform" as chief executive of EMI Music? It can't be. It is. It's Charles Allen, whose past digital offerings included OnDigital (RIP) and Friends Reunited. Nor were many of his ITV shareholders overly impressed by the creative output in those days.

On the plus side, Allen is the man on the spot (he was already non-executive chairman of EMI Music) and he tends to stick around in a crisis, which is exactly where EMI finds itself.

Elio Leoni-Sceti, the departing chief executive, is leaving eight weeks before EMI Music presents a business plan to its parent, the private equity firm Terra Firma. The quality of this plan is meant to determine whether Guy Hands of Terra Firma will approach his investors for another £120m to prevent EMI breaching its banking covenants, an act that might cause the lender, Citigroup, to seize control.

It's an odd moment, then, for Leoni-Sceti to declare that "my job here is now done". He sings a very different tune in a lengthy interview in Management Today. "I'm staying focused on delivering a vision for this business – I'm very dedicated to EMI," he tells the magazine. Before they hand over £120m, Terra Firma's investors might care to press Hands for a full explanation.

Alternatively, they could reflect that a volunteer is worth two pressed men – Allen does sound terribly pleased to be a headline act again.